COORG TEENAGER’S VIRAL VIDEO IMPACT: CM VISITING COORG ON JULY 19

July 17, 2018

By P.T. Bopanna

Close on the heels of a viral video in which a Kodagu (Coorg) teenager faulted chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for his partisan budget neglecting Kodagu district, the chief minister is paying an official two-day visit to the district from July 19.

Kalera Fateh (in picture), a Class VIII boy of Yemmemadu village in Kodagu district, took Kumaraswamy to task for his failure to provide relief to Kodagu which has been battered by flooding due to heavy rains.

In the video, the youth braving strong winds with the flooded Cauvery as the backdrop, had lambasted: “When there is this much rain, it is a benefit to Mandya, Mysore and even Madras, whereas Kodagu has suffered huge damage. You have left Kodagu like an orphaned child when in fact it is actually the place where the Cauvery originates. The rain has destroyed rice, coffee, pepper, areca crops. The heavy rains have forced elephants to move, due to which crops have been damaged. The roads are full of trucks stranded due to the rain.”

After the video went viral, Kumaraswamy reacted, “I will soon visit Kodagu district and take stock of the damage”

An embarrassed chief minister reacted: “My ideas are different. How long will you deter me with stories like this? How long can you oppose me like this? Let me start. I won’t spend my time on the third floor of Vidhana Soudha. I will spend my time with the people.”

Kumaraswamy’s budget has come to be termed as a ‘Vokkaliga budget’ as the chief minister has rained goodies on areas dominated by the members of his community in the old Mysuru region.

The chief minister who has come under attack for the partisan budget has tried to deflect attention by shedding tears at a meeting of his JD (S) party by claiming that he was not happy being the chief minister.